Steve Kerr made a move this past week that was right for himself and his family.

He took the Golden State job, where he'll coach a better team closer to home for the same money. No shocker there, right?

And good luck to him.

Thing is, Phil Jackson probably should have seen it coming. Jackson knows Kerr well, knows how much a family guy and West Coast guy Kerr is.

Steve KerrAssociated Press

Instead, the new hoops boss of Manhattan Island allowed just about everyone in New York to believe Kerr was penciled in as the coach, that the process was more or less a formality, that the deal had already been done and don't worry about the particulars.

Then it didn't happen.

Can you say "Embarrassing?"

Clearly the former Phoenix Suns general manager and president of basketball operations was Jackson's first — and in some ways, only — choice.

And where is the franchise now that Kerr has left his mentor at the altar?

It is scrambling to hire someone else; a replacement for Kerr who, no matter what, will always be considered something less than the top choice for the job.

And the current list of names?

Derek Fisher. Tyronn Lue. Luke Walton.

C'mon.

They are players not coaches, interesting young people who have zero experience in coaching or management.

What message would Jackson be sending with a hire like that?

I'll tell you.

"I don't want a coach," is what he'd be saying. "I want a student. Someone to mold, and inform, and direct, and correct."

All of which means to me that, at the end of the day, The Zen Master plans to coach with one hand on the wheel, advising his student coach while he's running the Knicks front office, and doing it all at least part of the time from Los Angeles.

That's not showing much respect for James Dolan's money, not that any of us should worry about that.

But what of the beleaguered Knicks fans' and their level of frustration? Don't they deserve something a little more tangible than what The Triangle Maestro would be giving if he makes that sort of move?

Which gets us to the point of wondering if hiring Jackson was a misguided notion from the beginning?

Wasn't this really supposed to be about the franchise buying some credibility?

Wasn't Jackson's appearance in New York a move with the goal being to give the organization a leg up on things like coaching hires and free-agent acquisitions?

Well, the coach hire is now a muddle.

'HERE WE GO AGAIN'

And now the Knicks are doing some backpedaling. The buzz of the Jackson hire and the Steve Kerr talk has been replaced by a feeling of "here we go again."

And remember once this coaching selection is taken care of, Jackson still has a team to build.

Whoever is taking over as head coach still has to pass muster with Carmelo Anthony, and get on board with whatever the overall plan is going to be. Supposedly, that means toughing it out next season in preparation for the 2015 free-agent class, which includes the likes of Kevin Love and Rajon Rondo, for starters.

For that reason maybe an NBA veteran like a P.J. Carlesimo or Byron Scott would be worth a look at this point.

In other words, someone who has enough NBA time under his belt to understand that 2014-15 is going to be about holding things together enough for 82 regular-season games to give the Knicks a shot at playoff berth come April.

They'd be better options than someone new to the profession, for sure, now that Phil Jackson has steered the ship up on the rocks in his first crack, I mean. 